Wichita State invested much in making center Jaime Echenique a focal point of the offense, especially in recent games. The Shockers make a point to run plays for him early in the game to get him rolling and open up opportunities for the perimeter players.
When Echenique left Saturday's game with a foot injury in the first half, the Shockers lost an irreplaceable scoring threat. With him, they possessed a scorer that VCU had problems defending. Without his height and soft touch around the basket, Wichita State slumped in the second half. VCU's aggressive defense took over and the Rams ran away with a 70-54 win in Richmond, Va.